


Duality

by lilbao



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Getting Together, M/M, dance practice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 14:47:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14022561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilbao/pseuds/lilbao
Summary: Zhu Zhengting is not cute. He’ll say it again. He isnotcute.





	Duality

**Author's Note:**

> alright, so i started working on this after like, ep 2, so this mightttttt be a little ooc, but i still wanted to finish and post this so here it is!

Zhu Zhengting is not cute. He’ll say it again. He is _not_  cute. But for some reason, which he cannot understand why, no one believes him. He laments this fact to Chengcheng one day over their weekly library study sessions.

"But ge,” Chengcheng begins, looking blankly back at him, “you are cute.”

“What!” Zhengting exclaims. “How?! Why does everyone say that!”

At this, Chengcheng wrinkles his nose. “Well...I’m not so sure why exactly. But it’s something about you, your aura maybe, it’s just...cute.”

Zhengting groans, pressing his face down into the palms of his hands. Chengcheng reaches across the table and awkwardly pats the top of his head.

“Chengcheng,” Zhengting’s voice is muffled through his hands, “What will I do? I’m turning twenty-two this year. I’m graduating college. Joining the work force. I can’t live the rest of my life only being seen as cute!”

Zhengting peeks up through his bangs, hands under his chin, and sees Chengcheng looking contemplatively at him. Zhengting raises a brow, waiting for him to speak.

“Hmm,” Chengcheng finally replies, as an idea begins to form in his mind, “What about Cai Xukun? In your dance group? Last week I overheard Zuo Ye from Bio telling his friend about how he looked sexy and dangerous in the showcase.”

“What about him?” Zhengting asks. “We’re in different teams and I’ve only talked to him, like, _once_. It’s not like I can just go up to him and ask how to be ‘sexy and dangerous’.”

Chengcheng looks back at him with an expectant face, corners of his mouth slightly turned up. Zhengting groans once more, forehead hitting the table with a light thunk.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Ge, it’s at least worth a shot!”

“...”

“Hey, I really like your shirt today, by the way. It’s cute!”

/\/\/\/\/\

Well, if Zhu Zhengting had to pick one aspect of his personality which he thought was the best, he would say that it’s his tenacity, his perseverance, in doing what he needs to achieve his goals. So, with that in mind, he spends the next couple of days formulating a game plan to approach Cai Xukun without making a total fool of himself. It’ll be simple, he thinks. The next time the two of them have practice at the same time, he’ll just go up and ask. Casual. A solid, foolproof plan.

Cai Xukun, however, does not give Zhengting even a smidgen of a chance to put his plan into motion. Of all the studio practices Zhengting attends in a week, he overlaps with Xukun’s team on one day only. And, on that one day, Xukun comes in after they’ve already begun stretching, and hurriedly takes a spot towards the very back of the room. Zhengting, of course, has staked out a spot towards the front, only catching glimpses of blond, wavy hair for the remainder of practice before Xukun rushes out right as they are dismissed.

The next week goes in a similar fashion, Xukun arriving late and leaving before Zhengting has even finished packing up his things. And, the week following that as well.

“I’m just a fanboy, I don’t actually know how to talk to him!” Zuo Ye squeaks, after Zhengting starts feeling desperate and corners him after Bio. “Nice work at the showcase though, your routine was really cute!”

/\/\/\/\/\

Then, finally, one day after practice a perfect opportunity opens up for Zhengting. He’s already packed up his things, drinking one last sip from his water bottle, when he hears the sound of a surprised gasp followed by a loud thump against the wooden floor. When he looks toward the sound, he’s startled to see it’s Xukun. It seems as if the other boy had tripped over his shoelaces in his rush to leave and landed on the floor, contents of his practice bag scattered all around him. Zhengting can’t believe his luck.

“Xukun!” He exclaims as he approaches, watching as Xukun scrambles to put his things away. “Here, let me help you.”

Zhengting crouches down and picks up various bottles of vitamins and hair products amongst all the items on the floor. His hands accidentally brush against Xukun’s as he places them back in the bag, and Xukun is quick to pull away, startled.

“Thanks.” Xukun says quietly. It’s the first word he’s uttered to Zhengting this whole time, and Zhengting is surprised. If he hadn’t known what Xukun was like on stage, he would never had pegged him as sexy. Right now, Xukun seems almost...shy? Maybe it’s just a trick of the light, a fleeting impression, but the way Xukun is looking up at him, wide eyes, worrying his lower lip, Zhengting finds him just cute. Really. Cute.

Nevertheless, Zhengting is a man on a mission, and so he dismisses that thought and carries on with his plan. At this point, many of their fellow dancers have already left the room, the few stragglers left are heading towards the door, so Zhengting takes this as the perfect moment to bring up his, slightly unusual, request.

“Hey, listen” Zhengting starts. “I really liked your performance at the showcase. The routine was really cool, and like, you just looked really cool on stage too. I think some people even called it sexy and dangerous.”

At this, Xukun’s eyelashes flutter down and a rosy pink blush starts spreading from his cheeks.

“Oh. Um. Thank you.” Xukun replies shyly, looking resolutely at the floor. Zhengting watches as he absently-mindedly runs a hand through his hair. Huh. Cute.

Zhengting smiles brightly. “You’re welcome! Anyways, so I was wondering, if you’re not too busy sometime, you should teach me!”

“Teach you?” Xukun is (adorably) confused. “You mean the routine? You’re like, one of the best dancers at our school. I’m sure you don’t need me to teach you.”

And, wow. Zhengting has to take a moment to process what he just heard. Being in the same dance group, they obviously knew of each other’s existences, but he’s surprised Xukun has paid this much attention to him. But great, Xukun doesn’t have a bad opinion of him. He can work with this.

“Thanks! I mean, you’re definitely up there too, to be completely honest.” Zhengting grins, and Xukun blushes a bit harder, lips dropping open in a slight ‘o’ shape. Another stray thought of _cute, so cute_  passes through his mind before he quickly brushes it off. And then, Zhengting takes a breath. Here goes nothing. “But actually, I was wondering if you could teach me how to be sexy!”

/\/\/\/\/\

At his next weekly study session at the library, Zhu Zhengting groans out loud immediately after Chengcheng takes a seat. He sure the other students around them are probably shooting him dirty looks, but he doesn’t care. Chengcheng absolutely needs to know of Zhengting’s displeasure.

“So, I’m guessing he didn’t say yes?”

At this, Zhengting lets out a dramatic sigh. “Oh no, he definitely said yes. In fact, I’m actually meeting up with him right after we finish studying!”

“Then, what’s the problem?” Chengcheng looks unimpressed.

“The problem is,” Zhengting sighs again, “he’s not sexy at all! I was finally able to ask him after class, but the whole time he was just awkward! So awkward, oh my god, you have no idea. He was just...shy? And blushing? I mean, he agreed at least, but it was one of the most awkward experiences of my entire life.”

Chengcheng hums distractedly while fiddling with his phone. “Have you maybe considered that he might have a crush on you?”

“A crush?!” Zhengting exclaims, receiving dirty looks from everyone around them once again.

Chengcheng shrugs. “Well, I mean, if you hadn’t ruined my trust in you when you confessed you wanted to date my sister, I probably would be all blushy and shy around you too.”

“Wow! It’s not like I would actually date Bingbing jie! I’m gay!”

And, while taking pride in one’s sexuality is something that is usually smiled upon, the rest of the library patrons that day don’t seem to agree. Someone, honestly Zhengting is pretty sure it was the topknot-undercut guy with RBF from two tables over, complained to the librarian, who then kicked them out for the day for being too disruptive.

But, as Zhengting idly waits until his and Xukun’s meeting time, he can’t help thinking over what Chengcheng said. Huh. A crush.

/\/\/\/\/\

During practice, Xukun continues to be adorably flustered. They decide together that Zhengting will learn a short segment of the routine, and from there Xukun will help him work on bringing out a ‘sexier’ side in his performance. As Xukun runs through the steps, he barely makes eye contact with Zhengting, instead alternating between looking towards his feet and using the mirror to indirectly observe that Zhengting is following along. On the rare instances he does turn around, it’s only to briefly answer Zhengting’s questions about the steps, before quickly turning back, blush creeping up his cheeks. Now that Chengcheng’s put the idea in his head, Zhengting can easily see how Xukun might have a crush on him. In fact, he actually finds himself warming up to the idea. What he can’t see, however, is how on earth Xukun is supposed to help him lose his cute image, if all Xukun has done so far in his presence is be. Cute.

But then, Xukun has Zhengting run through the entire part full-out, and oh. Oh.

Xukun watches the routine with his full concentration, eyebrows slightly furrowed, eyes slightly narrowed, and doesn’t waver.

“Okay,” he begins, and gone is any trace of the flustered boy Zhengting had previously seen throughout all their interactions. Finally, here is the focused, intense dancer Zhengting is trying to emulate. “So, I have a few suggestions.”

Xukun quickly steps behind Zhengting, grabs ahold of his wrists, and straightens them out to the side. They make eye contact in the mirror as Xukun speaks over his shoulder.

“The thing about this routine is that it requires really strong and hard movements. You have to really _hit_ each position.” To demonstrate, he moves Zhengting’s arms back in front of his chest, then quickly brings them back out to the side. “Just like this. You have to be able to feel your arm muscles flex. Good.”

He then walks to Zhengting’s side.

“It’s the same for the body rolls. Your movements right now look really smooth and fluid, which is good, but again, for this routine they also need to be strong as well.” Xukun faces the mirror and executes a perfect body roll.

And okay, if Zhengting was warming up to the idea of Xukun crushing on him before, now it feels as if a fire’s been lit inside him. Zhengting’s finally understanding how Xukun can be called sexy and dangerous.

Finally, Xukun stands right in front of Zhengting, looking him straight in the eyes.

“The most important part, I think, is the expression. Just remember that a little goes a long way. It shouldn’t be super exaggerated.” He reaches a hand up to cup Zhengting’s jaw and turns his face slightly to the side.

“Even a simple angle, like this, really elevates your expression.” Xukun doesn’t put down his hand. “Okay, now keep looking straight at me. Try to imagine someone you like, someone you’re attracted to, right in front of you. You have to tell them, with only your eyes, that what you’d really like to do is just--” Xukun lowers his voice, and with that his entire expression changes, eyeing Zhengting with a burning intensity. “-- _fuck_.”

Zhengting can’t take it anymore. His legs feel weak. His heart is beating a mile a minute. He’s sure that he’s about as red as a tomato right now. He certainly feels like he’s burning up from the inside.

“Fuck.” Zhengting echoes in a whisper.

A corner of Xukun’s mouth turns up, and he brings his face close, closer to Zhengting’s. The last coherent thought Zhengting has is that he really hopes he’s now more sexy than cute. Then, the rest of the world becomes a blur as his and Xukun’s lips meet.

/\/\/\/\/\

“So, how’d it go?” Is the first thing Chengcheng asks as soon as he sits down at their usual table in the library.

Zhengting pauses.

“It was...good.”

“Good?” Chengcheng whines, “Just good?! You’re not gonna give me any details? Did you even learn how to not be cute?”

Zhengting bites his lip, trying to formulate an answer without having to spill exactly what happened during their practice session. Just as he’s finally about to reply, their conversation is interrupted.

“Hey! Chengcheng, what’s up?” Zhengting hears from behind him. He’s a little startled. The voice sounds familiar. Isn’t that--?

Xukun bounds over to their table and gives Chengcheng a high-five.

“Hey!” Chengcheng grins back. “Just studying. You know Zhengting, right?” Chengcheng tips his chin toward Zhengting, grinning even more widely. At this, Xukun’s and Zhengting’s eyes meet, mirroring looks of slight mortification.

“Yeah,” Xukun says slowly, “I didn’t know you guys were close friends.”

“Same.” Zhengting replies. God, he’s really going to murder Chengcheng after they finish studying.

“Well, I actually have to get going now,” Xukun finally says, “but I’ll see you on Friday?” He directs this last question to Zhengting.

“Uh,” Zhengting quickly glances at Chengcheng, who looks frighteningly gleeful at this point. “Yes. Yeah. Friday. See you then.”

As soon as Xukun’s out of hearing range, Zhengting rounds on Chengcheng. He reaches across the table and grabs his collar.

“You didn’t tell me you guys were _friends_.” Zhengting hisses.

“I didn’t think it mattered!” Chengcheng exclaims. “He had a crush on you, and you needed some help anyways! If anything, you should be thanking me. I found a way for you to shed your cute image,  _and_ I got you a date on Friday.”

Hearing this, Zhengting gets ridiculously flustered. He needs to wipe that smug expression off Chengcheng’s face right away.

“I hate you. I’m calling Bingbing jie right now and asking her on a date instead.”

That does the trick. Chengcheng’s face instantly sours.

“You’re gay!” He shouts. “And you’ve already fucked Xukun!”

Well, this time Zhengting can confirm it’s definitely topknot-undercut that reports them to the librarian. But he can’t find it in himself to care. Not when he has a date with a cute  _and_ sexy boy to look forward to on Friday.

           


End file.
